Validation of the Gratitude/Awe Questionnaire and Its Association with Disposition of Gratefulness

Abstract

Self-transcendent feelings such as gratitude, compassion, and awe are highly relevant for human societies. So far, empirical research has focused more on the relational aspects of these feelings (concrete persons), and less on the spiritual aspects referring to the Sacred in a person's life. We intended to validate an extended version of the former three-item Gratitude/Awe scale. This extended scale was designed with a focus on the experiential aspects of being moved and touched by certain moments and places/nature, on related reactions of pausing with daily activities, and on the subsequent feelings of awe and gratitude. Enrolling 183 test persons (67% women; 59% with a Christian confession) in a cross-sectional study, we can confirm that the seven-item Gratitude/Awe scale (GrAw-7) has good psychometric properties (Cronbach's alpha = 0.82) and moderate correlation (r = 0.42) with grateful disposition (GQ-6 questionnaire). Structured equation modeling (SEM) confirmed that both constructs, although moderately related, are different. While Gratitude/Awe was best predicted by the frequency of meditation practice, a grateful disposition was best predicted by the frequency of praying and by general life satisfaction. The GrAw-7 scale is not contaminated with specific religious topics or quality of life issues, and can be easily implemented in larger studies.

Religious/Spiritual Struggles and Life Satisfaction among Young Roman Catholics: The Mediating Role of Gratitude

“…In fact, the grateful-feeling youth had a higher desire to repay the kindness shown to them, and experienced greater satisfaction with life. These data confirm that besides its connection with R/S struggles, gratitude positively relates to life satisfaction (Büssing et al 2018;Fagley 2012;Froh et al 2009aFroh et al , 2009b. Well-documented research shows that grateful people are more prompt to perceive positive experiences in their daily life (Büssing et al 2018) and consider negative events as less influential on the present (Lambert et al 2009).…”

“…These data confirm that besides its connection with R/S struggles, gratitude positively relates to life satisfaction (Büssing et al 2018;Fagley 2012;Froh et al 2009aFroh et al , 2009b. Well-documented research shows that grateful people are more prompt to perceive positive experiences in their daily life (Büssing et al 2018) and consider negative events as less influential on the present (Lambert et al 2009). The latter competence helps to reframe adverse and harmful memories from the past and assists in mood repair resulting from a stressful event (Watkins 2004).…”

Ehrfurcht/Dankbarkeit als säkulare Form der Spiritualität bei jungen Erwachsenen und Ordens-Christen

“…Ehrfurcht/Dankbarkeit und Zufriedenheit/Wohlbefinden kommen also weitgehend unabhängig voneinander vor. Die GrAw-Skala korrelierte jedoch signifikant (p<0,01) und moderat mit dispositioneller Dankbarkeit (GQ-6: r = 0.48) und der Meditations-(r = 0.41) und Gebetsfrequenz (r = 0.34) der untersuchten Personen (Büssing et al 2018). Betende und meditierende Personen scheinen vermutlich besonders "geübt" darin zu ein, das Besondere im Alltag wahrzunehmen.…”

“…Informationen zum Geschlecht, Alter und der Gruppenzugehörigkeit finden sich in Tabelle 1. Die interne Konsistenz der Skala ist mit Cronbachs alpha = .82 gut; die 7 Items bilden einen gemeinsamen Faktor(Büssing et al 2018). Auch in diesem Sample ist die interne Konsistenz gut (Cronbachs alpha = .87) und es lässt sich nur ein Faktor extrahieren (57 % Varianzerklärung).…”

Perception of Religious Brothers and Sisters and Lay Persons That Prayers Go Unanswered Is a Matter of Perceived Distance from God

“…To measure feelings of awe and subsequent feelings of gratitude, we used the seven-item Gratitude/Awe (GrAw-7) scale (Büssing et al 2018). This scale addresses the "emotional response to an immediate and 'captured' experience, and not an emotional response in response to goodwill of a person" (Büssing et al 2018).…”